Momentum Mag - Nov/Dec 05

A few snippets from Momentum Magazine, a new magazine dedicated to online help believers passionately, quickly, and effectively reach the least-reached 27% of our world.

On Urban megacitites:

In 2000, the largest cities: Tokyo (26.4), Mexico City (18.1), Mumbai (18.1), Sao Paulo (17.8), New York (16.6), Lagos (13.4), Los Angeles (13.1), Calcutta (12.9), Shanghai (12.9), and Buenos Aires (12.6). Together these accounted for 161 million people, or over half the population of the United States.
By 2010, the largest cities will be Tokyo (26.4), Mumbai (23.6), Lagos (20.2), Sao Paulo (19.7), Mexico City (18.7), Dhaka (18.4), New York (17.2), Karachi (16.6), Calcutta (15.6), and Jakarta (15.3), accounting for 191 million people.

Some good questions posed as a learner about what someone from another culture thinks about Americans:

1. What do you think are the key characteristics of a real American [or other culture] man or woman? What makes a [American] a "good [American]"?
2. Finish this sentence, "A good [American] would never . . ."
3. Finish this sentence, "A good [American] is always . . ."
4. Finish this sentence, "A good [American] would give up almost anything if he or she could have . . ."
5. Finish this sentence, "A good [American] would think that life is not worth living without . . ."
6. Finish this sentence, "A good [American] dislikes and avoids people who . . ."
7. An [American] proverb says [such and such]. Can you explain that for me? Perhaps you can use an example of a situation when you would use that proverb.
8. A [American] proverb says [such and such]. Why is that so important to [American] people? Are there other proverbs that make the same point?
9. In my country we have a proverb that says [such and such]. Do you think most [American] would think that is good advice? Why or why not?

Some Indonesian proverbs:

Where there is smoke, there is fire.
Where there is sugar, there are ants.
There is a shrimp behind the stone.
Water with ripple is shallow.
Water dripping from the roof will eventually go to the reservoir.
Seaweed chopped up by water but not cut off.
Milk is repaid with poison.
Never think that still water doesn’t have crocodiles.
As if kerakap leaf on a rock, unwilling to live, unwilling to die.
Like the fingernail and the flesh beneath.

Great magazine, the first two issues have been some great reading. Magazine sections in html here.

Image: World's children population with respect to the 10/40 window. Also from the current issue. Click for full size.